Calcium supplementation of both beverages and food products is known in the art. Known calcium supplementation techniques employ a variety of calcium sources, insitu calcium salt formation or adjuvants to enhance dietary calcium utilization.
A number of calcium sources have received much attention. Most notably, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,851,221 and 5,075,499 relate to calcium citrate and di-calcium citrate lactate compounds and related processes. Furthermore, calcium citrate malate has been extensively investigated as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,468,506, 5,445,837, 5,422,128, 5,389,387, 5,314,919, 5,232,709, 5,225,221, 5,186,965, 5,151,274, 5,128,374, 5,118,513, 4,994,283, 4,992,282, 4,919,963, 4,872,919, 4,830,862, 4,786,510, 4,737,375 and 4,722,847.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,862 relates to the use of calcium sulfate, preferably in combination with calcium chloride, to improve the solubility of other calcium sources (mainly calcium hydroxide and calcium carbonate), in the presence of significant amounts of edible acids, such as phosphoric and citric acids. The calcium sulfate-chloride combination is said to reduce precipitation and deposition of calcium salts on equipment surfaces during pasteurization.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,793 relates to the calcium fortification of ready-to-drink not-from-concentrate fruit juice beverages that are made by recirculation of juice containing citric and malic acids and addition of a powdered calcium salt in an area of turbulent flow. The powdered calcium sources may include hydroxide, carbonate, lactate, phosphate, sulfate, and mixtures thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,524 relates to storage stable calcium fortified pre-mixes for beverage concentrate production. Sulfate is listed as one of several possible acidic anions. The pre-mixes also contain citric and malic acids and have a pH less than or equal to 3.5.
Various approaches also have been tried to supplement carbonated soft drinks with calcium. U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,342 is directed to a beverage with sugar and/or artificial sweeteners, an acid blend consisting of citric, malic and phosphoric acid, and a flavor of either fruit or botanical and a cation compound consisting of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,578 describes a formulation of a clear beverage containing soluble fiber and a soluble salt of calcium and other mineral supplements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,351 describes the use of calcium glycerophosphate in a low pH (2.8 to 4.6) beverage without product stability problems and unpleasant flavors. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,474,793 and 5,468,506 describe the use of calcium and acid mixtures (citric acid, calcium hydroxide, and malic acid) to form soluble calcium for fortification of juice type beverages. However, most of these inventions are related to fruit juice based beverages. Either the calcium salts or the acid mixtures, sweeteners and flavors described in these inventions cannot be directly added into a beverage matrix without any modifications for a cola type of beverage. In particular, the type of acids used such as malic acid is highly incompatible to the cola taste.
It has been discovered, however, that calcium-supplemented beverages and beverage concentrates, in particular cola-flavored beverages, prepared according to the methods disclosed in the art and employing artificial sweeteners do not result in stable, palatable beverage compositions. The present invention solves this problem by providing a method of making artificially-sweetened, calcium-supplemented beverages that are stable from calcium precipitation and have a desirable taste.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of making syrups and beverages, as well as the improved syrups and beverages made thereby, that are desirable both for stability and for taste, and which contain calcium, acids, sweeteners and flavors. The formulated beverage products of the invention are useful as calcium-supplemented beverages for consumers who are concerned about calcium deficiency in their diets.
Additional approaches to providing calcium salts in beverages is to use a blend of several calcium salts. For example, a blend of calcium hydroxide and citric acid and malic acid (i.e. calcium citrate and calcium malate) has been used in calcium fortified Tropicana® orange juice, and a blend of calcium hydroxide, calcium chloride, and calcium sulfate as depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,862. Employing a mixture of calcium salts also provides a tool to manipulate the flavor/taste of the drinks. In 1985, a calcium fortified version of the cola beverage Tab® was test-marketed, employing a blend of calcium carbonate, calcium chloride, and calcium saccharin, which also functioned as a sweetener.
The present invention now provides beverage concentrates and beverages comprising a unique blend of calcium salts chosen from calcium chloride and at least two of monocalcium phosphate, calcium hydroxide, and calcium carbonate. This unique blend of calcium salts imparts cleaner tastes in cola beverages and was judged by experienced cola beverage users as very close to that of the unfortified drink. In addition, juice and tea beverages comprising this unique blend of calcium salts were judged by trained tasters to have a taste comparable to, if not better than, corresponding unfortified beverages. Thus, it is another objective of the invention to provide calcium-supplemented beverage concentrates and beverages containing a unique blend of calcium salts as the source of calcium which are capable of delivering a nutritionally significant amount of calcium per 8 oz serving with good taste.
These and additional objects and advantages of the present invention are shown from the description below.
The disclosures of the patents and publications cited above and throughout this specification are incorporated in their entirety to more fully describe the invention and to demonstrate the state of the art.